


Dance of the Little Swans

by cosmic_llin



Category: The Worst Witch (TV 2017)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Ice Skating, Teaching
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-07
Updated: 2018-12-07
Packaged: 2019-09-13 16:03:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16895709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cosmic_llin/pseuds/cosmic_llin
Summary: The lake's iced over and it's time for skating, but Mildred's not as excited as the other girls.





	Dance of the Little Swans

Miss Hardbroom skated like a ghost in a spooky story, Mildred thought. Underneath her long, thick winter skirt, her legs barely seemed to move – she just glided over the ice, her posture as straight as a ruler, as if she was being propelled by unseen forces.

Actually that could be true, for all Mildred knew.

It was a cold, crisp Saturday and the other girls had whooped with excitement when Miss Cackle had sent out the word that they would be allowed to skate on the lake. They’d all rushed to fetch their skates and piled out onto the ice, barely waiting for the teachers to arrive to supervise. Miss Drill had spent most of the morning there, skating, smiling and joking with everyone, and Miss Hardbroom had only recently come to relieve her. Now she was skating around glaring, like she was daring any of the girls to get into ice-related trouble.

Mildred would have liked to even have the chance.

Most of the other girls had their own skates, although when she’d come down to ask Miss Drill about it, she’d seen a handful of others borrowing the ones from the sports cupboard. But even those girls obviously knew what to do, dashing and twirling like ballet dancers. Nobody seemed to wonder for a second whether Mildred knew how to skate or not, until she wobbled onto the ice like a baby deer and promptly fell over.

Enid and Maud had noticed then. Once she’d got over her embarrassment and explained, they’d been really nice, skating slowly around with her, helping her to keep her balance and figure out how to move on the ice.

But at last they’d got impatient. Mildred had caught them looking wistfully at the other girls, racing each other and showing off.

‘You two go on, have fun,’ she’d said. ‘I’ll just watch for a bit. I’m sort of tired now anyway. Thanks for the lesson.’

And she’d sat at the edge of the lake with a sigh.

‘Mildred Hubble,’ said Miss Hardbroom now, skating near her in the course of her orderly pattern, ‘you can’t just sit here all afternoon, it’s much too cold.’

‘I’m just having a break, Miss Hardbroom,’ said Mildred.

Behind Miss Hardbroom, Ethel whizzed past, balancing on one leg. She stuck her tongue out at Mildred.

‘You’ve been having a break since I got here,’ Miss Hardbroom said. ‘Either get on the ice or go back inside. I won’t have you getting frostbitten on my watch. What would your mother say?’

‘I’m not going to get _frostbite_ ,’ Mildred said, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. ‘Please, Miss Hardbroom, can’t I just watch?’

‘Whatever’s the matter with you?’ Miss Hardbroom asked. ‘You’re usually at the front of the pack for anything that involves running around and shrieking.’

‘I just… I don’t get why everyone else is so amazing at skating,’ Mildred confessed. ‘It’s like they’re all graceful swans and I’m… I don’t know… a confused chicken.’

‘Ah,’ said Miss Hardbroom. ‘I should have realised.’

‘Realised what?’

‘Most witches learn to ice skate when they’re small,’ Miss Hardbroom explained. ‘Since we can use magic to freeze over lakes and rivers, opportunities to practise are perhaps more plentiful than they are in the non-magical world. For whatever reason, it’s always been one of the most popular winter witching pastimes.’

‘I’ve only ever been to an ice rink once,’ Mildred told her, ‘and that was when I was little. I think I might be too old to learn, now.’

‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ said Miss Hardbroom, not all that sharply.

‘No, really! I mean, if Enid and Maud both started learning when they were tiny – how am I supposed to catch up? I’ll never get as good as them.’

‘You certainly won’t, with that attitude,’ said Miss Hardbroom. Then she sighed, and turned to look Mildred in the eye with what looked almost a tiny bit like the beginning of a smile. ‘You saw me skate just now, didn’t you?’

‘Yes,’ said Mildred.

‘Well, there you are. I didn’t learn to skate until I was your age either. Miss Pentangle taught me, when we were at school together. And now I can skate just as well as any witch.’

That did change things a bit, Mildred thought. Even if Miss Hardbroom was just frighteningly good at everything.

‘Did it take a long time?’ she asked. ‘I mean, to get as good as everyone else.’

Miss Hardbroom made a weird face for a second, and then it smoothed away again. ‘It took… a while,’ she said. ‘But nobody here will make fun of you for being a beginner. And if they do they’ll have to answer to me.’

Usually when Miss Hardbroom glared like that, Mildred felt like hiding behind her cauldron, but it seemed like this time Miss Hardbroom was… on her side?

‘Thanks, Miss Hardbroom,’ she said.

‘You’re welcome.’

‘Hang on,’ said Mildred.

‘…yes?’

‘You said you can skate just as well as any witch.’

‘Indeed I can.’

‘But all I’ve seen you do so far is… skate around. I mean, you haven’t fallen over or anything, and you look very graceful, but Enid can twirl, and Maud can do a jump. And I saw Miss Drill do that cool flippy thing with her feet before.’

‘I am perfectly capable of twirling and jumping, and I can certainly do the _cool flippy thing_.’

Mildred took a risk.

‘Prove it.’

Miss Hardbroom snorted. Mildred had guessed right then – she was in a good mood.

‘Watch carefully, Mildred Hubble,’ she said, ‘because this will probably be your only chance to see this.’

She skated off. Mildred watched her gather speed, cutting a path through the girls. She skated in wider circles, clearing a space. A few girls stopped what they were doing to watch. And then Miss Hardbroom launched into a spin, balanced on one skate, arms out to the sides and then rising above her head, turning faster and faster and faster until Mildred was dizzy just watching, and then she slowed down again, skated backwards in circles for a few moments, and Mildred gasped as Miss Hardbroom leapt skyward, twirling in mid-air, landing again and skating towards Mildred with a calm expression like she hadn’t done anything worth noticing.

She did the cool flippy thing on the way back.

On the ice, the other girls were staring and whispering.

‘Does that meet your requirements, Mildred?’ Miss Hardbroom asked, raising an eyebrow.

‘That was awesome!’ Mildred said.

Miss Hardbroom gave a dignified little nod. ‘Thank you. Now, if you’d like to be able to do the same someday, you really ought to be practising.’

‘Do you really think I could?’

‘If there’s one thing I’ve come to realise about you, Mildred Hubble, it’s that you can do most things you put your mind to. Come on.’

She held out her hand and Mildred took it, and Miss Hardbroom pulled her onto the ice.


End file.
